Sunday, 6 April 2014

DJ Ratty Bedroom Trilogy

'Straight From The Bedroom'

#TapeSessions is a hashtag a few of us have been using to highlight the posting of 'Rave/Hardcore/Jungle' mixtapes on Twitter ... Do a search and check them out..... they offer an insight into the scene back in the day.

Most of them were recorded at events or specifically for commercial release, however after a few months of posting these mixtapes, I was amazed when one of contributors to these posts told me of a some mixtapes that he had in his possession....

Three 'Bedroom Mixtapes' never before released or even heard by the general public....

Well here they are in their full glory.. digitised and available to download......

A MASSIVE thank you to @mistyhaych14 aka Kenny Daryl who without him, we would never have heard these genuine slices of 'Jungle History'.....

Here are a few words from Kenny to put these tapes into context..... which explain the era in which these tapes were created....

"It was 1990 and Ratty had just got his first decks. Along with LL Cool J's album 'Mama Said Knock You Out'. Ratty was a massive LL fan. His graffitti 'Tag' was 'Lady's Love Kidd Groove'. Which you can still see around certain parts of Leamington.

So I asked Valerie, (my girl) to get Ratty to do me a copy. Which he did,And I've still got it. Complete with wicked Ratty scratching. The B side of that tape is a Ratty from 1990 'rave' mix, complete with tunes like 'Devotion' etc. (Original Ratty business)

Fast forward to 91-92 and Ratty was the king of rave. Me and Val were over, (oh well) haha, but I'd become good friends with his younger bro.

So, when he was off playing Fantazia or wherever we'd sneak into his room for a go on his 3 decks. That was madness for us mate.

Technics, as you know were, and still are the Rolls Royce of decks. So to be near, let alone play them was just crazy. And dangerous.

I'd be Ratty and he'd be Robbie Dee, hahaha F***ing hell !!!

There were V.I.P. Tags strewn across his speakers from all the biggest raves.

And dub plates, white labels, promos all over the place. We'd rinse um out, then try to remember where we got um from, hahaha

And as you know, those dub plate acetates only last about ten plays. So, I think we may have f**ked him up a few times ! They were mostly Tango and SS, with the odd Rider, Doc Scott or Goldie thrown in, I'm talking major ish'.....

Then in 93, Fibre Optic blew up, with residents, Ratty, Tango, Pilgrim, SS, and Fallout, who ran the local record shop - Fibre Optic Records.

We all really fancied Fallout, so we'd spend all day, every day in the basement of that shop. Oh, and we liked the tunes too, haha.

I've got so many promos and white labels from her time at that shop,Loved that place to the bone.But anyway ... Quest, Wolverhampton, was about to destroy the Midlands, along with The Eclipse / The Edge, Coventry.

We were in on this shit believe me.

Kev, Ratty's older bro moved into the street next to me and told me all about these clubs. Said he'd get me in on the guest list. Walking into clubs with a swagger saying,

"Errr, we're with Ratty"

The door were like,

"Yeahhh, go through"

Hahahaha

We even tried it at clubs where Ratty wouldn't even be playing, Lol.Suffice to say, We eventually got found out.

After a while, Ratty began to hate Robbie Dee. There's a video on YouTube that clearly shows Ratty's annoyance with him.

Around that time, he put together these two bedroom mixes. A more mature style, newer but still with that Bad Boy feeling..... In a word, Ratty.

Most people think of Ratty as this mad, chopping mixer who scratched a lot, I prefer the seamless mixing quality he shows on these tapes.

The story behind me obtaining these Ratty tapes involves another friend.He'd call in on Ratty and he'd grab his latest mix and give it me.

My good friend 'Shocker' would go boxing at the club near Ratty's house.Then call in after his training and grab the latest flex.

Never released, and, as far as I know, these are the original copies.He'd bust a a mix and give it out, one time.

20 years later.... Here they are for your aural delight...... Enjoy and appreciate the culture from where these Tapes come from....."

About Me

Disclamier....

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